


You're Still Worth It

by cloudyskiesandcurlyfries



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Laura is alive, M/M, they go on a marriage retreat, they go to fix their marriage, they have 2 daughters, they're married
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-12
Updated: 2016-05-12
Packaged: 2018-06-07 22:21:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6827560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cloudyskiesandcurlyfries/pseuds/cloudyskiesandcurlyfries
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek and Stiles have been married for 12 years and have 2 little girls. They were still madly in love but noticed that they were drifting apart a bit now. Laura suggests that they go to a week long marriage retreat in the mountains.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You're Still Worth It

**Author's Note:**

> no beta all mistakes are my own 
> 
> enjoy :)

Derek and Stiles had been growing apart. It happened sometimes in marriages. They have been together for 12 years now and they’re raising 6 and 8 year old girls.  
Their life had fallen into a routine now. They would get up early, get the girls ready for school, have time to share a quick 5 minute breakfast before Derek had to head off to work. Stiles would then have a couple of hours to clean up the house and drop the girls off at school before he had to head upstairs and get started on writing. He worked from home but he knew if he didn’t set office hours, he’d never get anything done.

Derek was a high-ranking lawyer and Stiles was a best selling author. While they were so unbelievably proud of each other, their busy schedules left little time for the two of them. 

When they first got together, and up until they adopted their girls, they lived pretty spontaneous lives. They would pack overnight bags and take small weekend trips on a whim. It wasn’t uncommon for the pack to not see them for a few days because they were off doing their own thing, enjoying being in love with their best friend.  
They loved each other though. Oh man did they ever. Ever since they got together after Stiles’ first year of college they were madly in love. 

High school was rough for Stiles and it only got worse after Derek left. But then one day Derek came back and he didn’t plan on leaving again. They got together almost immediately. 

Now though, it was different. There was no doubt that they loved each other but that spark just wasn’t there all the time. When they did have a few hours of free time, they ended up falling asleep in front of the tv before they could even do anything together. 

Laura could tell that it was affecting them both. She brought it up with Derek one day. 

“Hey baby bro, listen. I know you love Stiles but things are different now aren’t they?”

“Yeah. I don’t know how to explain it. I love him so much, even more than I did 12 years ago, but it’s just mellower now. We don’t do date nights, we don’t go on trips anymore, and most of our free time ends up being focused on the girls anyways. And I love Claudia and Talia so much. They’re everything to me but every since we adopted them and became parents, it’s just been different. I feel like the spark isn’t there anymore, you know?” 

“You know the pack is here for you right? And if you ever need a night to yourselves, you have like 14 people who would love to babysit for the night.”

“Yeah I know. But that’s only one night. And I’m not saying I want it to go back to how it was. We were pretty reckless and did whatever we wanted. But I just want my husband back.”

“What about a marriage retreat? They do those you know. And you can find ones for people in your situation. If I look some up for you, do you think you would consider it?”

“I guess? I don’t know what Stiles would say though.”

“Don’t worry about him. I’ll talk to him tomorrow when he drops by the station to bring his dad lunch.”

Derek hung up the phone and made his way back downstairs to find his girls in front of the tv.

“Ladies, why aren’t you helping dad with dinner?”

“Because papa, it’s a super special princess movie marathon on tv and daddy said we could watch it,” Talia said.

Of course he did. Stiles would do anything to keep a smile on his girls’ faces. Derek made his way into the kitchen to find Stiles pouring sauce over the last layer of lasagna. 

“Mmmmm smells good babe,” Derek said, coming up behind Stiles to wrap his arms around his middle. 

“Thanks honey,” Stiles said back, turning his head for a quick kiss. 

Derek stayed there as Stiles finished pouring the sauce and sprinkling the cheese. After he was done and tried to turn around, Derek kept him in his arms. He buried his face in Stiles’ neck, drinking in his scent to calm his wolf. 

“Hey sniffy-wolf, everything okay?” he joked. 

“Hmm yeah I just missed you today that’s all.”

Stiles just rolled his eyes, leaned up for one more kiss before heading to the sink to get started on the pile of dishes. 

Derek wanted to help but the kitchen was Stiles’ sanctuary and no one got in his way while he worked. Instead, Derek made his way back out to the living room and wiggled his way between his daughters, wrapping his arms around them as they cuddled into him. 

“Hi papa. Did daddy need any help?” Claudia asked. 

“No baby. He’s fine. But dinner will be done in a little while okay. So this is the last episode then you two need to head upstairs and lay out your pajamas so you’re all set for shower time after dinner okay?”

“Okay papa,” to both said at the same time, immediately shifting their focus back to the tv. 

The next day when Stiles dropped off his dad’s lunch at the station, Laura grabbed him before he walked out the door.

“Stiles can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Sure sis what’s up?”

Laura hated that Stiles called her that but she let him do it anyways. Stiles finally had a sister and he was so happy about that. She couldn’t bear to take away his happiness over a nickname.

“Okay so I told Derek I’d bring this up with you. I know things are a bit different between you guys now. And it’s been like that for a while. And it’s not a bad thing-before you interrupt. But I found this marriage retreat. It’s a week in the mountains, no phones or internet, just you and your partner. And I think maybe it might be fun for you and Derek to go. And it might help out a bit. You guys don’t have any problems or anything and I know you’re still madly in love, but this might help reignite that spark between you again. Just because you have kids now, doesn’t mean you can’t still be like you used to.”

Stiles thought this over for a moment. One the one hand he was kind of disappointed and hurt that Derek didn’t bring this up himself. On the other hand though, it seemed like a really great idea. Laura must have sensed this because she spoke up again. 

“And before you get mad at Derek, this was my idea. And I only told him yesterday. And I said I’d talk to you about it.”

“Okay yeah that’s something I think we should do.”

“Perfect. I’ll send you guys the information later. Pick any week you want. I’m more than happy to watch the girls if your dad can’t do it that week.” 

She gave him a hug and sent him on his way. 

When Stiles got home that night he decided to bring it up with Derek after the girls were asleep. 

“Der?”

“Yeah babe?”

“I talked to Laura today.”

Derek’s head whipped up from his computer screen to look at Stiles. 

“And…?” he was nervous. 

“I think we should go. I hope you know that I love you more than anything in the world and I always will. But I think we both know it’s been different lately. It’s almost like we’re growing distant. And maybe it’s only because of your long hours and the fact that we’re raising 2 kids. But I want to fix this now before it’s too late and we start to hate each other.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.”

Derek put away his work, crawling into bed with Stiles to hold him close. He would never be able to forgive himself if he let his relationship with Stiles get ruined. After all that had happened with them in the past, they deserved to be together and happy. Derek was determined to put his happiness first for once.

A week later they were booking the tickets and Stiles was on the phone with his dad. 

“Hey pops. Listen, Derek and I officially booked our spots for that marriage retreat. Can you take the girls next week? If not, Laura can do it. Or Scott and Kira, or Isaac and Allison, or basically any of the pack. But I’m sure they’d appreciate some quality time with their grandpa sheriff and grandma Mel. And don’t even get me started on why they insist on calling your grandpa sheriff because I still don’t understand.”

“Of course I’ll take them, kid. I’d do anything for you and Derek,” his dad laughed. “Also the sheriff thing might be my fault. Long story, I’ll tell you another time.”

A while later Stiles got off the phone and went to the girls’ room. 

“Munchkins. I’ve got some news for you.”

They both put down their dolls and looked up at their dad. 

“What is it daddy?” Talia asked. 

“Well, Papa and I are going on a grown up vacation okay? So you guys get to spend one whole week with grandpa sheriff and grandma Mel. Does that sound fun?”

Talia immediately cheered and ran to her closet to start finding clothes and toys she already wanted to pack. Claudia on the other hand was awfully quiet as she looked back down at her doll. 

“Claudia baby. What’s wrong? Are you not excited?”

“Why can’t sissy and I come with you guys? Were we bad, did we get in trouble? How come we can’t come?” she asked. 

Stiles’ heart broke as he looked at his baby girl. He made his way over to her and wrapped her up into a hug, peppering her with kisses. 

“Oh sweetheart no. You aren’t in trouble. And you’ve been such good girls. But Papa and I need some alone grown up time okay?”

Claudia nodded her head as she stayed in her dad’s arms. 

When Stiles got into bed that night, he was upset. And Derek could tell. 

“Babe what’s wrong? Are you re-thinking this retreat?”

“Hmm no that’s not it. Claudia thought she got in trouble and that’s why she wasn’t coming on vacation with us. And it broke my heart. I love them so much Derek. Those girls are everything to me and I hope you know I’d sacrifice you in an instant if it meant keeping our girls safe. I know you’d do the same to me for them. I just love them so much. And I know you always wanted a big family and for your pack to grow. And I’m just so sorry I can’t give you kids, so that at least there’d be a shot for your kids to be werewolves like you. I’m so so sorry Derek.”

Stiles was crying at this point but Derek was wrapped around him in an instant. 

“Hey Stiles babe no it’s okay. These girls are ours, alright. Maybe not biologically but that doesn’t make them any less ours. And who cares that they aren’t wolves. When they turn 18 if they want the bite they can have it. But it won’t make me love them any less if they’re human. I’m married to a pretty great human and I like him as he is.”

Derek managed to get a weak smile out of Stiles as they stayed wrapped up in each other, falling asleep. 

The following week Stiles and Derek found themselves dropping off their girls at John’s house. 

“GRANDPA SHERIFF!!!” the girls exclaimed in unison, running towards their grandpa. 

“Hello my beautiful granddaughters. How are you guys??”

“We’re super excited for this week!” Claudia said, looking back to smile at Stiles, who returned her smile with a wink of his own. 

“Alright well grandma Mel made brownies. I think she’s in the kitchen right now putting them on plates and pouring some milk. Give dad and papa a hug and head in there girls.”

They made their way over to their dads, hugging them tights and leaving behind sloppy kisses on their dads’ cheeks. They ran to the kitchen, leaving John with his son and son-in-law.

“Well, I know there’s no phone usage there so have fun. And let us know when you land there and when you’re about to get on the plane back, okay?” 

“Got it dad.”

They exchanged hugs and made their way back out to the car. They drove to the airport in silence. 

It was strange, not being with the girls. They had almost forgotten how to be StilesAndDerek because they were so used to being Stiles and Derek and Claudia and Talia.  
By the time they were on the plane though, they were starting to get back to their old ways. 

Stiles would hold Derek’s hand and whisper dirty things to him, causing Derek to spit his drink out all over himself and the seat in front of him. As much as Derek wanted to be mad, he couldn’t be. It was nice to see that even though they had gotten a bit distant over the years, his Stiles was still down there somewhere. 

They checked into their campground, handed over their phones, and made their way to their cabin. There were no activities planned the first evening, allowing the couples to get settled for the week. 

Stiles and Derek ordered room service and settled in for the night. They ate fairly quickly, leaving them with a few free hours before it would be time to go to bed. 

They were cuddling on the bed when Stiles spoke up. 

“I miss the girls so much. I know this week is all about us but dammit Derek. I can feel my heart aching because our girls aren’t here with us right now.”

“I know babe. I know. But this is gonna be so good for us. I can’t ever afford to lose you. And I’ll do anything to make us stronger and better. And just think, us being closer than ever will be good for the girls too.”

“Yeah, you’re right. You’re always right I hate you,” Stiles joked, rolling his eyes and playfully pushing Derek.

“I love you too Stiles.”

The next day they were given breakfast and at 10am they made their way to their first group activity. They were with 9 other couples and they all had to introduce themselves and talk a little bit about themselves. 

When it came time for their turn, Stiles was surprised that Derek spoke up before him. 

“Um I’m Derek. And this is my husband Stiles. We met back when Stiles was about 16 but we only got together after he turned 19 and we’ve been together ever since. I’m a lawyer and Stiles is an author. We have 2 girls, Claudia and Talia, and we live in Beacon Hills, California.”

After the rest of the couples introduced themselves, the instructor started to speak. 

“So, we’re all here for different reasons. Some of you are newlyweds, some on the brink of divorce, and we have everyone else in between. We’re going to start with general exercises and then we’ll work with you individually to help assess any problems you may be here to solve.”

The first activity was speaking to your partner and listing things you are grateful to them for. 

Stiles went first. “I’m grateful that you came back to Beacon Hills all those years ago.”

“I’m grateful that you work from home and take care of our daughters.”

“I’m grateful that you worked hard to be a better alpha to help take care of our land.”

“I’m grateful that you cook dinner for us every single night.”

This went on for another few minutes until time was called. 

“Now, please discuss a few points with your partner that you wish was different between you guys.”

“Okay um I wish that you didn’t work so much.” Stiles said, feeling bad for having to say these sorts of things to Derek. 

“I wish you didn’t baby the girls so much. They’re going to have to deal with hurt and heartbreak and unfairness eventually and it’s going to hurt them even more if they’re used to being coddled all the time.”

Stiles was a bit taken aback from this. They usually never talked about parenting like this before. Derek could hear Stiles’ heartbeat frantically thudding in his chest at this.

“You’re a fantastic dad though Stiles. You’re the best. But sometimes you let them get away with whatever because you want them to like you so badly. And I think in the long run it might hurt them.”

Stiles nodded his head, seriously considering Derek’s words. 

“I wish you still wanted to be spontaneous,” Stiles finally said. “You used to leave work early and bring me lunch. Or you’d take a Friday off and we’d go drive down the coast for a few days. And I know we have the girls now but we have so many people who are willing to babysit. And I wish we could still do things like that.”

After this activity, couples were free to mingle and eat. They had to be at the second event that day a few hours later. 

At the next event, the counselor asked each couple to discuss why they thought they were having problems. Any newlywed couples were to discuss what possible things they thought might be a problem in the future. 

“This one’s pretty easy,” Stiles said. “I think we’re like this because of how much our lives have changed. I’m not blaming the girls but ever since we had them, we’ve had to adjust our lives. I don’t think we’ll ever be able to be how we used to be but I think it’s important we find a new normal for us. I want us to still be us but also be the best parents we can be.”

Later that night when the couples were sent to bed, they were told one last thing. 

“No sex for the first 4 days of this retreat. We want to solve our problems with words, not with sex. Sex is a temporary answer and distraction but we want to try and get to the root cause here. Obviously there’s no way for us to know if you do it or not but if you want to get the most out of this experience, we ask you don’t have sex.”

There were lots of groans and murmurs of disappointment from the whole group at this new rule. 

Derek and Stiles made their way back to their room and got ready for bed. 

“I think this is gonna be good for us Der. I know sometimes it’s hard for you to talk about your feelings like this but thank you. Thank you for agreeing to do this. Thank you for fighting for me. For us.”

Derek didn’t know how to answer this, just leaning in for a kiss and pulling him down to the bed, wrapping around his husband so they could go to bed.

The next day was therapy. The couples each went to individual sessions with a therapist and then later that day they went to the session together.  
Stiles was actually nervous about this. He fiddled with the sleeves of his shirt as he stood in the lobby of the therapy building. He heard his name called and he slowly made his way over to his therapist. She was a middle-aged woman with a kind smile. 

“Mr. Stilinski, please take a seat. Our session today will be about an hour long so let’s get started.”

Stiles sat down, unsure of what to expect. 

“Okay Mr. Stilinski, tell me a little bit about your husband Derek.” 

Stiles’ face immediately lit up. “Derek’s the best. We actually met when I was in high school. And we had a few interactions back then but we hated each other. And then something happened a couple years later and he almost died. And it was in that moment that I realized how I felt about him. He left Beacon Hills for a little bit after that, to go travel with his sister. We didn’t keep in touch too much though and I knew he needed time to heal. He came back right after I finished by first year of college and we almost immediately started dating. We got married when I was 22 and a couple years after that we adopted our first daughter Talia. About a year after that we found out that the same parents were pregnant again and putting that child up for adoption too. They like to keep siblings together so Derek and I adopted another baby girl and named her Claudia.

Derek’s always wanted a big family. Sometimes I feel bad that I can’t give him children that share his DNA but we love our girls so much. Derek’s a lawyer too. He has a big fortune of money from an insurance settlement after his psycho ex-girlfriend burned his family to death back when he was 16. So technically neither of us need to work and we’d be set, money wise. But Derek got bored sitting around. One day he picked up a law book, found it interesting, and a few years later he was graduating with a law degree and passing the bar exam. He works long hours and I think that might be contributing to us becoming a it distant over the past few years.”

Stiles took a deep breath after his long rambling speech, waiting for his therapist to say something. 

“Well, there’s no doubt you love him. You guys have a pretty heavy past and sometimes, that helps couples stay together in the future- having such a deep and personal past. I know you mentioned the long hours situation but do you think there’s another reason you two are so distant?”

“Yeah. The girls. Obviously we don’t regret them but I think we’re so focused on being parents that we don’t have time to just be us. I don’t think we know how to be us but also be parents at the same time, and maybe switch between the two.”

Derek mentioned similar stuff in his session. One thing Derek mentioned was how afraid he was to lose Stiles. 

“He’s my everything. I’ve been in love with him for so long and there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for him. And we’ve had to overcome so much and I don’t want to lose him. I can’t. I’d never forgive myself if I gave up on us and we became even more distant and ended up hurting each other and the girls.”

At their joint session, the therapist just smiled at them. 

“You two are clearly meant for each other. I asked you very different questions but you both answered very similarly. You have such a deep rooted past and you both love your girls so much. I think you guys are going to be fine, but it will take work. And there is absolutely no shame continuing with therapy when you get back home. What I would like to discuss is what you guys want to do to change your lives. How do you want to change so you can be different in the future and be better together?”

They looked at each other unsure of how to answer. After thinking about it for a while, Stiles spoke up. 

“Maybe you could work less? I know you are so crucial to the team there but maybe come home at 5pm, not 7 or 8pm? I know I would appreciate it and the girls would too. Just having a few hours extra with you is so worth it. When I was in high school I used to hang out at your loft for way longer than I should have. And I’d end up staying up till 2 or 3am finishing homework but it was so worth it. You were so worth it. And you still are.”

Derek blushed at this. 

“Yeah, I can do that. I’d do that for you and the girls.”

“Derek, anything you’d like Stiles to do?”

“Actually yes. Maybe you could be more trusting with our friends and let them babysit more. I want to take you out on date nights a few times a month. And I want to be able to just drop the girls off and have a few hours to ourselves. It’s nice being home and relaxing while the girls are asleep but we’re still in dad mode. And I know we always will be but if we get out of the house it might give us a chance to just be us again.”

Stiles agreed, thinking the idea was good. He did trust his pack but those girls were everything to him and he hated not being next to them 24/7. 

The rest of the week passed with relative ease. Stiles and Derek got closer and closer, and they were falling in love all over again. They laughed and smiled and joked and flirted more than they had in the past 5 years. 

It was their last night and Stiles was getting out of bed, searching the floor for his discarded boxers when he spoke up. 

“You know, I’m almost going to miss it here. I know when we go home it won’t be exactly like this but it will be similar. And I don’t care how anything is, as long as you’re by my side.” 

He leaned down to kiss Derek before heading to the bathroom. 

Derek stretched out in bed. He was sore and tired but it was the best kind of sore and tired. He didn’t realize how much he missed being with Stiles one-on-one until being with him like that was their only option. 

The next morning, they packed up, were handed back their phones, and were taken in a large bus to the airport. 

A few hours later they were picking up their car and heading to the sheriff’s house. They knocked on the door and heard 2 sets of tiny feet running to the door.  
“DADDY, PAPA YOU’RE HOME!” they both screamed together.

“Hi babies. We missed you so much!” Stiles said as his daughters tried to cling on to both their dads at the same time. 

“Alright ladies why don’t we let your dads come inside and they can tell us about their trip,” Melissa said, laughing at the scene in front of her. 

Once they sat down, their girls climbed up on their dads’ laps and asked how the trip was. 

“It was great! We were right in the mountains so we took lots of early morning walks around the trails. And there was a small lake by our cabin so sometimes at night we would head down to the lake and swim around for a bit. It was lots of fun. We took some pictures of the scenery too, we’ll show it to you guys later when we get home okay?” Stiles said. 

“Alright munchkins say goodbye and thank you to grandma and grandpa. We gotta head home. You two have school in the morning,” Derek said, happy to be holding his girls again. 

John and Melissa just gave them a knowing smile and sent the 4 of them on their way home with a box of cookies and some pizza for Derek and Stiles.  
After a few weeks, Stiles and Derek were in a new routine. Derek worked shorter hours, getting to spend more time with his family. Stiles found himself asking the pack for babysitting favors more often, and not being so afraid and nervous to leave his girls for the night. 

Bi-weekly date nights were a new thing for them and it was doing wonders for their relationship. It was like constantly falling in love over and over again.  
Derek would have to get Laura a really great birthday present this year for suggesting they go on that marriage retreat. 

-end

**Author's Note:**

> [My Tumblr](http://www.dylanlovesthemets.tumblr.com/)   
>  [Sterek Writing Sideblog](http://www.cloudyskiesandcurlyfries.tumblr.com/)


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